Perceived cognitive deficits, emotional distress and disability following whiplash injury

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the pattern of perceived cognitive deficits in patients with whiplash injury, to examine the relation between perceived cognitive deficits and disability, and to examine the determinants of perceived cognitive deficits in patients with whiplash injury. Participants: A total of 81 individuals participated in the study. There were 29 patients (13 men, 16 women) with a diagnosis of whiplash, grade I or II. Patients with work-related soft-tissue injuries (n=24) and nonclinical controls (n=28) were included as comparison groups. Methods: Participants completed measures of perceived cognitive deficits, pain severity, depression, anxiety and pain-related disability. Results: Both patient groups scored significantly higher than the nonpatient control group on the measure of perceived cognitive deficits, but did not differ significantly from each other. Perceptions of cognitive deficits were significantly correlated with pain-related disability. A hierarchical regression examining the relative contribution of anxiety, depression and pain showed that only anxiety and depression contributed significant unique variance to the prediction of perceived cognitive deficits. Discussion: The potential benefits of focusing interventions on the management of anxiety and depression in the rehabilitation of patients wth whiplash, injuries are discussed.